I was born and raised about 30 miles south of Philadelphia, in a little State called Delaware. My father went to the other side when I was 7 yrs old, leaving my mother to raise me alone. She managed to play both parental roles, and instilled in me a tender balance of strength, and sensitivity. She taught me how to put my thoughts in to written word, which came in handy for dealing with the pain of losing my father.
When I was a teenager, my older brother left me his vinyl collection and a turntable. This led to many reclusive nights in the basement spinning Harvest, Who’s Next, Bridge Over Troubled Water… It was at this point that I discovered exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to make records.
So, come Christmas ’94, my mother and brother pooled together and got me my first guitar, a black Washburn acoustic. I spent day and night teaching myself chords, and it wasn’t long before I was writing songs in the basement. I started a band and spent most of my adolescence obsessing over band practice and gigs, meanwhile neglecting my homework.
As I got older, I developed a strong relationship with my uncle Will who resided in Nashville. He was a songwriter as well, and turned my ear to Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, and a slew of old SUN recordings. As a result, my writing began to improve and my musical horizons broadened.
In 2001 I went broke by investing in a bunch of recording gear, and taught myself the craft. I slowly built up a reputation in the area, and consequently spent the next 6 years recording/producing over 30 different artists of ALL genres. Talk about expanding, I was exposed to, and even producing music I knew nothing about, including hip-hop, hardcore, children’s…
In 2004, I traveled back and forth from Delaware to Nashville to make a record with my uncle Will, which ended up receiving critical acclaim and steady rotation on European National Public Radio.
In late 2006 I decided to follow his footsteps and move to Nashville myself, which is where I currently reside.
About “Necessary Lies”
In between long recording sessions making records with other artists, I was chipping away at this one. I think it’s evident that it comes from many places. For me, this album culminates my experiences of heartache and loneliness, my disgust with the current political landscape, and all the human deception that makes life so damn fragile.
I played a good amount of the instruments, and brought in friends to fill in the gaps and provide a fresh perspective. The entire recording process spanned about 2 years, with a hiatus or two, and a number of rewrites, re-recordings, relapse, etc…
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